Bursting at the seams is Kansas City's local music scene, one filled with an eclectic mix of artists. Some area bands, such as Radkey and Beautiful Bodies, are garnering national attention. Others have regional and local followings. Regardless, Ink's Middle of the Map Fest is ready to put those local bands, and Kansas City, on the map, so to speak.

Kansas City native Nathan Reusch attended the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival five years ago and felt drawn to create a similar festival in Kansas City.

"We just had this vision it would be this mini South by Southwest," said Reusch, who runs the independent record label The Record Machine and curates the festival. "We wanted to really give it a Kansas City flair and be about all the things we loved about the city."

Reusch enlisted the help of Record Bar owner Steve Tulipana and Ink Magazine, and a year later, they hosted the first Middle of the Map Fest in 2010.

The first year featured a mix of 50 local and regional bands, and festival organizers hoped for 1,000 attendees. Three thousand came. The second year, organizers added an Arts, Tech and Culture Forum to the festival, and by 2012, attendance grew to 6,000. Last year, Middle of the Map added a film festival, and 7,500 people came.

This year, organizers aiming for 10,000 attendees.

"It's a great way for Kansas City to show off and, more specifically, showcase our flourishing arts and culture scene," Kansas City Mayor Sly James said. "Events like Middle of the Map Fest bring crowds of people to our city who oftentimes leave in awe of everything Kansas City has to offer. I can't tell you how many times I've met people at large events across the city who have the same refrain when I ask them about their stay here and that is, 'I had no idea!'"

This year, more than 120 bands will play at Westport venues, and about 75 are local. The remaining bands are a mix of national and international names, including The Colourist and The Get Up Kids.

"It's not just about getting one big act and selling as many tickets as we can for that one thing, but really trying to expose people to as much music as possible and being able to get some of those more local bands out there that people may or may not have seen before," said Michelle Jolles, general manager of Ink.

The mission has always been to showcase local artists, said Tulipana, who helps book acts for the festival.

"(Reusch) really wanted to help local artists and get them playing with some of the national acts," Tulipana said. "That's kind of the beauty of it."

"A lot of festivals like this will not involve the local community," Reusch said. "They'll go out and bring in the top-tier bands from around the country and the world, and they forget about what's in their own backyard. There's a real big emphasis with us on making sure that Kansas City is well-represented within the festival."

When booking acts, Middle of the Map organizers try to include a mix of genres and are always looking for the next up-and-coming band. In 2012, that band was Fun. Reusch knew the bass player, who's originally from Lawrence, and booked the band six months before its song "We Are Young" hit No. 1 on the charts. One month after Fun agreed to play in the festival, the band was featured on the TV show "Glee" and later made an appearance on a Super Bowl commercial. By the time Fun played in Middle of the Map, its breakthrough song had been No. 1 on the charts for three weeks, Reusch said.

"We plan for these up-and-coming bands that we're excited about and hope they're going to burst out. Sometimes you hit the lottery, and they (Fun) definitely hit the lottery because there's so much talent there."

Putting Kansas City on the Map

In years past, Middle of the Map has attracted attendees from at least 37 states and from other countries. One group of friends from the coast headed to Middle of the Map Fest in 2012 to see a particular band and told Reusch they returned the next year because they loved the festival so much.

"I feel like it's helping to elevate the perception of what can go on here culturally," Tulipana said. "There seems to be a little more attention nationally on our city's culture than there has been in quite some time."

For the mayor, it means priceless PR for Kansas City.

"Middle of the Map Fest attendees bring their wallets to our city, but they also bring attention here," James said. "You can't buy the type of good PR that a successful, high-profile arts and culture event brings to town. We've seen that in previous years with Middle of the Map Fest, and I'm certain this year will be no exception."

In addition to helping festival attendees discover new bands, Middle of the Map is uniting the music community, Tulipana said. For four years, the Kansas City nonprofit Midwest Music Foundation has hosted a stage at South by Southwest for Kansas City-area bands to perform. A number of those same acts will perform at the Middle of the Map Fest.

"The scene feels more connected because of these events,"Tulipana said. "You have a 13-piece Afrobeat band, you've got a honky tonk band, and you've got a punk rock band all playing together, getting to know each other in another city. Then, doing events like this here, the same thing, where you marry a lot of different styles and artists. It helps create a tightness in the scene and people are more aware of each other and support each other."

Film and Forum

Although the festival began with music, it's broadened to include an Arts,Tech and Culture Forum and a film festival. This year's film festival, which runs April 16-20, will feature a diverse cross section of curated films and fanfare parties. Some of the directors are even flying in for the screenings, Reusch said. One of the featured films, "Mood Indigo," is directed by Michel Gondry, who's garnered a cult following for his films and music videos, like the ones he's directed for the White Stripes, Daft Punk and the Rolling Stones.

The April 10-11 forum will include a variety of speakers and panels covering topics ranging from "Woman Innovators" to "Local Arts in the Community" to "Why KC might be the next Austin."

Reusch said it's all about being inspired and creating a sense of pride with what's happening in Kansas City. Another goal of the forum is to impel others to become involved in the city and its activities, he said.

"Everything that we're doing with all this, especially with the forum, is we're trying to bring all this creativity together in the Heartland," Jolles said. "Whether we talk to the Arts Council or we talk to Live KC or we talk to KCADC, or all these different organizations, we're all trying to do the same thing. We've got such great art, culture, music and technology here in this city, and we're just trying to celebrate it and make sure people know about it."